WASHINGTON, Jan 8 — The United States said yesterday a diplomatic solution was possible with Russia but that it would not give in to its demands in talks next week, as Nato warned of real risks Moscow will invade Ukraine.
Blinken said that Russia should know it was issuing “absolutely non-starter demands” but that it was part of its “playbook.” “We’re prepared to respond forcefully to further Russian aggression. But a diplomatic solution is still possible and preferable if Russia chooses it,” Blinken said.Russian President Vladimir Putin denies plans for an invasion of Ukraine, where Moscow in 2014 seized the Crimean peninsula and has championed an insurgency that has since claimed more than 13,000 lives.
“The Russian military build-up has not stopped, it continues and they are gradually building up with more forces, more capabilities.”In draft proposals issued by Russia, Nato would agree not to take in former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia or to build bases elsewhere in the former Soviet Union.
“Nato will engage in dialogue with Russia in good faith and on substance but we must also be prepared for the possibility that diplomacy will fail,” Stoltenberg said. Some members insist the focus has to remain on getting Putin to back off from Ukraine and that Moscow’s proposals need to be rejected out of hand.
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